ACOBGK
by SuprSmashKid
Summary: (Part 2 is late because I couldn't upload for a couple days.) A young adventurer is called to join a group of allied video game heroes. I suggest you play EarthBound, Legend of Zelda, and Super Metroid before tackling this fanfic.
1. I: The New Guy

THE ASSORTED CREW OF BAD-GUY KILLERS  
  
A.K.A. ACOBGK  
  
Part I: The New Guy  
  
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Day 1, 11:45 PM  
Fourside, Eagleland  
  
I stood outside the dimly lit building, and re-read the letter in my hand. 'The ACOBGK wants you to join! Please show up at 8:45 PM for testing and a brief meeting.' I remember seeing this letter in my mailbox and thinking, "Why me? I never helped in any way." I decided not to argue and packed my stuff for an overnight stay here in Fourside. I also decided to start writing this journal, because (if I get accepted) I can record various cool stuff. I really hope I make the cut, even though I've never really helped in any way. As I stared up at the converted Montoli building, I brushed my long hair back, tied it with my bandanna, checked the strap for my sword's sheath--slung loyally over my shoulder--and removed my buster from my left hand to dry my sweaty palm. I breathed deep and headed for the entrance.  
The lobby was quiet, and the lady behind the desk was the only other person there. I headed for her, but before I could get my mouth open, she said, "The testing is on the 63rd floor, first door on your right." I thanked her and stepped into the elevator, pushing '63' on the panel. When the doors closed, I checked my reflection on the elevator doors. I spent 4 hours repairing my armor, but left a few marks in to show my experience. Sometimes, things like these impress people. I also recoated my armor with deep blue armor paint. I re-tied my bandanna around my forehead and, when the doors opened at 63, stepped out of the elevator. The hallway was also empty. There were a pair of office chairs, but I decided to stand and wait.  
About 20 minutes later, the door opened to reveal an empty room. I tried to peer inside, but couldn't see anything past the doorway. I passed around a few ideas quickly in my head of what this meant. I slowly stepped into the room, my right hand on the hilt of my sword and my left hand slightly outstretched, ready to aim and fire. I took two steps inside and waited, keeping my senses peeled for the slightest sound or visible movement. There was only silence and stillness, but still I waited. I heard something like a pin dropping to my left and saw a shift in the darkness there. I waited until I was sure the shadow was headed in my direction, and I rolled to the side and drew my sword, trying in vain to swing low at whatever it was. The hallway wasn't well-lit, and didn't provide much light into this room, which seemed to be darker than anything I've ever been through.  
It became apparent to me that the object that almost hit me was held in air by a rope of some sort, as I traced the shadow's direction back and forth in front of my face. I stayed as quiet as was possible, but I knew I was breathing too hard from my nervousness. I was almost sure my heartbeat could be heard from a mile away, but I still remained silent. I again stood and turned back into the darkness, and stepped in a few more steps. I took a step and felt my foot sink downward a tiny bit, and heard a click. The lights immediately came on, almost blinding me. I barely saw a second object on a rope swing at me from my right side, and swung at it with my sword to deflect it. It only took a moment for my eyesight to return, and I saw five menacingly large robots in front of me. I easily recognized these enemies as the dreaded Starman Supers, and stepped back into a defensive position. They didn't move as I waited for an attack of some sort.   
I took this moment to press a small button on the underside of my buster, the POWER button. The small screen on it lit up and with it a list of random attacks and abilities programmed into it from various dimensions. Dimension-warping is a common event for me and my former ally, a half-dragon by the name of Nash. Although our planet is Earth, there are a large amount of variations of Earth, and dimension-hopping brings them closer to the eyes. In one dimension, the planet is known as Zebes; in another, the planet is called Terra; I prefer to simply call it 'home'.   
I selected the Ice Beam and easily froze all five Starman Supers. I charged forward and slashed all five in half, only to find innards of fluff. 'They were only plush replicas' I thought to myself, and sighed in relief. There was a door behind the five, which I stepped up to casually. I opened the door with ease and saw a large circular room, with a large half-circle of a bench and several empty chairs. This room was also dimly lit, but I took my time wandering around the room and looking at various paintings on the walls. I heard a noise behind me and turned to look. Still an empty room. I continued marveling at the painting in front of me, which looked like abstract art with a painting of a deformed face in the middle. Underneath the painting had a small bronze plaque reading 'Giygas'. I wasn't quite sure what it was all about. I heard someone clear their throat and turned swiftly. All the chairs were filled now, and I had 18 pairs of eyes and a greenish visor giving me an odd look.   
"Who the heck are you?" Inquired a spiked blonde with a large sword slung over his shoulder.  
"Why did you enter our meeting area?" Questioned a boy with a red cap.  
"What's with the battle gear?" Came the almost electronic-sounding voice of a female in a yellow metal suit.  
I felt confused and slightly embarassed. "You're the ACOBGK panel? You wrote to me, inviting me to become the newest member..."  
A teen with a green cap and tunic said, "We never sent any letter of this kind to anyone. Show me the letter." I stepped over to him and pulled the letter from a pocket in my armor, which he grabbed from me and read quickly. "...This is a fake. You say this was sent to you in the mail?" I nodded. The entire group exchanged glances with each other (except the girl in the metal suit, her face was hidden behind a green visor). A brown-haired girl in a yellow jumpsuit shook her head.   
The teen in the green looked back to me and said, "Will you please step outside? We need to speak in private." I nodded again and stepped out of the room. As soon as I closed the door, I heard muffled shouting for a few minutes. I leaned against the wall next to the door and waited. The shouting died down and about ten minutes into the odd silence, the door opened and the spiky blonde stepped out, closing the door. He faced me and said, "I guess we were kinda rude to you earlier. My name's Cloud, of the ACOBGK. The letter you were sent is, of course, a fake."  
"A fake?"  
"A fake. We're sure that letters like these were sent to people like you from all across the dimensions in order to keep us busy as some evil person tries to take over. We'll run an analysis of the letter to find where it came from and scour that area for the evildoer. You can go home and return to your normal life." I felt shocked and angered at Cloud's word choice. 'People like me'. Just what was that supposed to mean?  
"Suddenly, there was more shouting from the room. Cloud, surprised by this, went back through the door, slamming it behind him. There was more silence, and then muffled talking could be heard, though none of the words could be understood. I waited for a little while longer until Cloud came back out. "Something horrible has happened and I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you anything else. You'd best go back home before things here get ugly, kid."  
"I'm not a baby, I can help!"  
"You'd only be getting in the way, kid."  
"Don't call me 'kid'. I'm 17."  
"I don't have time for this! Get outta here!" He ran back through the door and everything went quiet. I stood there, quite annoyed. I mumbled nasty things about what happened as I headed back to the elevator. I pushed the 'Down' button and waited. Five minutes went by, and I was still waiting, and getting more impatient as I waited. When the doors opened, I stepped into the elevator and punched '1' on the panel. I leaned against the wall and angrily thought to myself.  
I noticed the secretary was gone when the doors opened again, but I didn't care. I left the building and checked into a nearby hotel and sat in the room for about an hour. After I cooled off a little, I lied in bed and tried sleeping. I checked my watch. 10:00 PM. Not very late, but I could still use sleep. Suddenly, a loud explosion shook me right out of bed. I sprang up and looked out the window in fear. There was a fire growing from the middle of the converted Montoli building. I grabbed my sword, which I threw against the wall after stepping into my room, checked my buster, and ran out of the hotel and towards the Montoli building. I took the stairs in the buildiing up to the 62nd floor, where the fire was raging out of control. I turned my buster on and selected the Water Wave, a seldom-used attack that I learned in a futuristic robot dimension. I extinguished every bit of fire I saw, and continued heading up to the 63rd floor.   
I fought my way through the raging heat until I reached the door, now unmarked. I headed through the door and fired rounds of the Water Wave until my buster overheated and automatically shut down. There wasn't much fire by the time this happened, and I waited for my buster to cool before heading through the second door. I powered it back up and opened the door. Instead of fire, the room was filled with smoke. There was a large hole in the wall opposite the door, and nine people were lying on the floor unconscious. 'The girl in the metal suit must've made the hole'. As I thought this, the girl entered through the hole in the wall and looked around. She immediately saw me and ran up to me.  
"You again! Can't you see there's a bit of a crisis here!?" I nodded and as she began carrying the others out, I selected an attack known as Wind Storm, and tried to clear out some of the smoke. I felt something strike me on my left shoulder and squeeze. I turned as best I could and saw a tall man in a black cape glaring at me. He pushed me over and kicked me across the room. I hit the wall with a loud thud but bounced back to my feet and drew my sword. I selected my custom-made ability, the Stun Beam, and waited for the man to make a move. A ball of dark energy grew in his hand and he tossed it at me. I shot it and neutralized it with the Stun Beam, and began charging it. He ran towards me, and I fired, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him backward a couple steps. Immediately after firing, I ran in and slashed him with my sword, but I only grazed his arm and a bit of his cape.  
Suddenly, he recovered and vanished, and the smoke cleared. All that was left of the man was a slashed bit of cape and a few drops of blood. I looked around. The steel-suited woman moved three of the people against the wall with the hole in it, and they began to regain consciousness. The girl in the yellow jumpsuit, Cloud, and the boy in the red cap (the three people sitting against the wall, obviously) saw me and became horribly furious. The woman, who saw my encounter with the caped man, talked to them quietly, so I couldn't hear her. Their expressions returned to more of a calm neutral as they stood. She then walked over to me and extended her hand to me. "My name is Samus." I shook her hand and asked what had happened.   
"Soon after you left, we had a close chat with one of our adversaries. After he left, A fire mysteriously started in the area of the 62nd floor. The smoke immediately knocked the others unconscious. I made the hole in the wall and tried to start moving people over, which is when you showed up. The person we had that close chat with is the one you fought off. The others thought you started the fire, but I explained things rationally to them. Thanks for your help. You might come in handy some day, how about joining us for a little while, just to see if you can handle our work?"  
"Samus, I've been doing this kind of stuff for a few years. I'd be honored to join up."  
"All I have to do is see if the others agree with my idea. You go to the hotel and get some rest. Do you have a room?"  
"Yes, I already got one."  
"Then I'll stop by tomorrow morning to give you our decision. See you then." I left and headed back to the hotel cheerfully, and began writing in this journal. Well, that'll be all for now. Until tomorrow.  
  
--SSK  
  
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Day 2, 10:30 PM  
Fourside, Eagleland  
  
The next morning, I was introduced to the whole crew. So far of the 10, I knew two: the spiky blonde was Cloud and the girl in the power suit was Samus. The boy in the red cap introduced himself next. He was Ness, and he lived in this dimension. The girl in the yellow jumpsuit was Selphie. The guy in the green tunic was Link. A man in a red shirt and blue overalls introduced himself as Mario, and the person next to him (in a green shirt and blue overalls) called himself Luigi. I saw a little pink thing rifling through a box of hats. He saw me watching him, and in a quick move, grabbed my bandanna, did something, and handed it back. He then introduced himself as Kirby, the copier.  
I spotted another spiky blonde kid, but he didn't have a sword and he had a cool-looking tattoo on his face. He called himself Zell. No one said anything about who led the group, so I assumed the tenth person was the leader. He was busy fixing the hole in the wall, but when asked, he replied his name was Jeff. Ness explained that Jeff helped on his adventures and when asked to join accepted almost immediately. After Jeff finished, he gave me a brief overview of what the ACOBGK was about.  
"We each come from different dimensions, and each of our dimensions have arch-enemies that we've beaten once or more. eventually, once dimension-hopping became possible, all the arch-rivals created an alliance, 'The Allied Cronies Of Different Dimensions', or ACODD. They began sharing troops and making our battles against them near impossible. We eventually all met some way or another; some of us met on adventures, some of us grew up together. We formed this alliance, ACOBGK. Now, banded together, we fight our arch-rivals wherever they may go." With this, Jeff turned back to the wall and ran a few tests to make sure it would hold. He didn't seem to be very happy that I was here, or maybe he's just always like that.  
After meeting the heroes, Jeff led me to a room further down the hall to brief me on the enemies. "As I said earlier, we each have enemies from our dimensions who have banded together. Ness and I have been fighting Pokey, who ran after we defeated the universal cosmic destroyer, Giygas. Kirby's rivals are Metaknight and King Dedede. Metaknight was defeated several times by Kirby, and has been trying to get his revenge. King Dedede is a glutton who was beaten by Kirby after trying to steal all he food in Kirby's home, Dream Land. Mario and Luigi have Bowser for a rival, a large dinosaur-like turtle with insane strength.  
"Samus's enemy is the Mother Brain, leader of a group of space pirated that tried taking over the galaxy with the help of an energy-absorbing creature called the Metroid. Ganondorf, whom I assume you fought yesterday, is Link's rival. He has attempted to steal the Triforce several times and would be beaten by Link. Cloud, Zell and Selphie fought their enemies a long while ago, and joined because we were shorthanded before then. They simply help with others, which makes things a lot easier around here. Of course, you look like you can help even the odds as well.." He eyed me suspiciously.  
"I'll do my best to help." He nodded. He began to say something when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and, to my surprise, Kirby walked in. However, he wasn't normal. He had brown hair stretching to the floor, a white bandanna around his forehead, and a mini-version of my buster on his left hand. "I really like your skill, SSK. The Stun Slash is fun!" With that, he left and I couldn't hold back; I nearly fell to the ground laughing. "Hah hah hah! Fun! That Kirby's something else." Jeff didn't look very amused. "Oh, come on! It's funny!" No answer but a stern glare through his glasses. "All right, you were going to say something?"  
"This position isn't something where we get chances to have a lot of fun in. You'd be best getting rid of your sense of humor."  
"No can do, Jeffie-o. My sense of humor is me. Without it, I'm nothing." Another dirty look. "Don't call me that." I decided to have a little fun with him for personal amusement. "Oh, come on, Jeffster, loosen up."  
"Just call me Jeff, just plain old Jeff."  
"Fine, Jeff, just plain old Jeff." There was a pause and I saw he was turning red with anger. 'Okay, I had my fun, I'd better quit it before he gets rid of me.' After a couple deep breaths to keep myself from bursting out in laughter as soon as I opened my mouth, I said, "So, what were you going to say?" He returned to something like normal and said, "We have to fight almost every day, and we don't get a lot of down time. Hopefully this new addition will make things easier for us. Just don't slack, you have to pull more than your share of weight to keep our enemies at bay."  
"No problemo, I've pulled more than my weight before." I never told him that the entire left half of my body is mechanical, and weighs plenty more than I would if I were fully human. Also, my armor weighs a good 40 pounds or so total, which just makes things tougher sometimes. "What do you want me to do right now?" He thought for a moment. "I'd ask you to run recon work at the ACODD hideout, but Ganondorf knows who you are and has probably told everyone there of you."  
"Hey, recon work? I know the perfect guy for the job. He wouldn't be willing to join the ACOBGK, but he owes me a few lives. How about I get him down here to run the mission? He'll do it if he knows what's good for him." I began to chuckle but stopped as I remembered Jeff's speech about my sense of humor. He thought for a moment. "Are you sure he wouldn't try to join them?" I shook my head. "Like I said, not if he knows what's good for him." I heard something that sounded like a laugh but could've been passed for a cough from Jeff. "All right, you can get your friend to run the mission. Call him up in an hour or so and meet him near Jackie's Cafe, where we'll wait for you two for his mission briefing. By the way, what's his name?"  
"Nash. He's a half-dragon." Jeff's expression changed from a serene form to increasingly annoyed. "Nash... I know a 'Nash'. He really seems to hate me. Most likely just a coincidence." I shrugged. Nash never mentioned anything about knowing Jeff, but from Nash's adventures, I'm sure he's met Jeff before and messed something up royally.   
We headed back to the main room and the hour passed rather slowly. I had an interesting discussion with Samus on similarities in our armor and weapons. I ended up swapping a few powers with her, although I never really lose an ability once I gain it. I gave her the Stun Beam power and I gained the Super Missle ability. It'll come in handy, and I'm sure Nash'll want it too. He doesn't have a buster like mine, but he'll bug me for one eventually.   
After that, I had a debate with Cloud and Link about different types of swords and which were more efficient, one-handed or two-handed. Eventually, it was brought to the conclusion that it depends on the user's strength and swordsmanship. My sword may be one-handed, but I'm sure it's longer and heavier than the Master Sword. I also discovered that I knew the man that forged the Master Sword. This also proved that not only the Master Sword will work on enemies in the Hyrulian dimension, only swords forged outside Hyrule will work, and that the Master Sword was forged in my dimension.   
Once the hour passed, I made my way to Jackie's Cafe and one by one, the others showed up. I made my call to Nash to meet me outside Jackie's Cafe. He swore at me and claimed he was busy, but I talked him into it. I stepped outside and 5 seconds later Nash arrived through a dimensional portal. "Okay, SSK. What the hell is this about?"  
"I have a job for you. How'd you like to visit the hideout of the ACODD?"  
"...Cool. What's the catch?"  
"Step inside the Cafe and I'll tell you." He hovered up onto my shoulder (he's not much larger than a kitten, but not quite the size of a full-grown cat) and I stepped through the door. I shut it, locked it, and whistled. The others stepped out from the back room and immediately Nash tried to escape. I grabbed him and held him tightly, but I didn't squeeze too tightly. Jeff didn't look happy at all. "You," he spat. He gave me another deadly glare and said, "You're friends with HIM?" I corrected him. "Allies, Jeff."  
Nash began swearing at me like a sailor and Jeff looked like he was gonna tear someone apart, which was amazing for Jeff. The next thing I knew, Nash was in human form and ready to beat the hell out of Jeff, who was ready to pound Nash into the ground. In a flash, Ness was in between the two as I held Nash from behind, locking his arms with mine so he couldn't move them. I also swept a foot in front of his legs to keep the kicking to a minimum. Samus and Link held Jeff back. Once things settled down, things were explained rationally to Nash of his job.  
"What? Recon through the ACODD building to gather info on their next attack? And I'll be working for that scum-sucking son of a--"  
"Hey! Watch it, Nash. No, you won't be working for Jeff, you'll be working for me, and you know how I like to work."  
"I still don't want to do it." Finally, Jeff spoke up. He sounded way too calm. "As much as I hate to say this, we are willing to pay you handsomely, depending on how much you get." He mumbled, "if you get any at all, incompetent little..." Nash, whom I was still holding back while Jeff stood a good 5 feet from him in the crowded Cafe, spat at Jeff. "I don't want your money. When I want your money, I'll steal it from under your mattress while you share--" I tightened my grip on Nash, but was careful. In the stance I held him, pulling too far in a direction could easily break an arm. "OW!!"  
"So, will you run this mission?" No response from Nash. "Well?" Still no answer. "Let me rephrase that. Do you want to run this mission or do you want some more persuasive agreements?" I pulled a little on his left arm and brought it to the point of breaking. "OW!! All right, all right! I'll do it, just let me go! It hurts!" I let him go. He shook his left arm, flexed it, and glared daggers at Jeff, who was glaring right back.  
  
Another hour and a half later, I found myself behind a large rock watching a small television and wearing a pair of earphones. We hooked Nash's collar up with a mini-cam and a mic, to listen and see what was going on. He got in pretty easy. He never told me he knew Metaknight personally, and was easily accepted as one of them. He sat and listened to one of their meetings and I took notes of what I heard. Two hours later, Nash, Samus and I were heading back to the ACOBGK base to discuss plans for the next attack. A large bag of money with Nash's name on it (seriously, it said "Nash" in huge letters all around it) was sitting in the lobby of the building. He took it and handed over the equipment we rigged him to, and left.   
Jeff read over my notes and watched the video, and thought for a while. "They seem to be planning another attack on the base, but from what it says here, we have almost 6 hours to ready ourselves. I think we should move everything from this building to another, and when they take the building, we sweep in from all sides and take them out. We should start the-- wait a minute..." He rewound the bit of tape he was watching while explaining. This portion of the tape was of Nash talking to Bowser about their plan. He noticed Bowser's left hand move to the side and put something behind his back.  
He watched the same bit of tape several times. "Looks like a letter. I can read a few of the words, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. It's mostly some weird form of abbreviation." I looked over his shoulder and immediately saw what he was talking about. "That's Nash-speak, an odd form of abbreviating things into fragments of words." I read what I could make out, since the tape quality wasn't great. I mumbled as I read it. Suddenly, after I had it translated from Nash-speak into regular form, I muttered a stream of obscenities. I wrote the translation onto a piece of paper, handed it to Jeff, and headed straight to the door. I called the others over from where the elevator was. "Everyone get out of the building now! Things are about to get ugly." I turned to Jeff, who had a look of horror and rage on his face. "A trap. We've been set up. And it'll be your fault if we lose."   
I stepped inside the room and let him run through the doorway when I heard a loud shot. I watched Jeff fly back a good ten feet and hit the ground, several holes through his chest. I looked in the direction of the shooter and saw none other than Nash in human form, holding a smoking shotgun. I could only assume the others made it out okay, but doubted it. "Well, SSK. I told you I hated him. It was only a matter of time before this happened. Don't worry, I let the others leave. It's just you and me now. In five minutes, this building will be nothing more than a smoldering pile of rubble, and I want to laugh as I watch bits of your armor fall from the sky. Oh, it looks like my speech took a little time. You have 3 and a half minutes."   
I looked back at Jeff quickly, and back to Nash. "If I die, you're going with me." He reloaded his shotgun and took aim. I selected the Spread Shot on my buster and took aim. No one moved for several seconds. He glanced peripherally at a small clock attached to his shotgun. "3 minutes." I saw no other option than what I thought up. The barrel of his gun was only 3 feet from me, which would make for a clean shot. "Make your move so I can blow your friggin' head off, SSK." I went for it. I jumped as far to the right as I could and kicked out with my left leg, aiming for the barrel. A foot full of lead is better than a head shot. I hit it dead on, but he got a shot off just as I hit the barrel. I heard the clash of metal on metal as the bullets flew through my left thigh. I shot him dead in the chest with the Spread Shot. He collapsed to the floor.  
I turned and picked up Jeff's limp body from its spot, and headed for the elevator. I stepped over Nash when he grabbed my leg. He looked at me, eyes burning. 1 and a half minutes, SSK, and I'm not dead." I kicked him off, since he didn't have very strong grip, and made my way down the elevator. As the doors closed, I saw Nash twist himself to look at me. "Wait! Don't leave me here!" The doors shut and I heard a muffled "NOOO!!!"  
I made sure my watch was in time with what Nash said, and was out of the building with 6 seconds left. I hobbled as fast as I could away from the converted Montoli building, watching the mini-display on my buster which conveniently tells time. '5, 4, 3, 2, 1..' I hit the ground as best I could as the building exploded. I felt fragments hit me, some bouncing off, some piercing my skin and not much more. Apparently I hit the ground harder than I thought, because everything slowly became dark.   
  
I woke up a couple hours later in my hotel room. The remaining members of the ACOBGK were there, but they weren't watching me intently to see when I'd wake up. I regained consciousness to the sound of shouting. I couldn't make out what was being said, but I knew what it was about. Jeff was dead, and they all wanted to take his place. I shook my head and my eyes hurt as they adjusted to the light, but when everything became clearer I saw everyone standing in something like a circle, yelling at each other. At this time, Ness stepped forward. "People, people, people! Let's quiet down! There's an easier way to find the new leader without this yelling. I was closest to Jeff, and I'm sure he'd have wanted me to take his role. Therefore, I'm the new leader." He was met with loud responses from the other 8.  
I tried to speak, but what I tried to say came out broken and too quiet for them to hear over their yelling. 'Damn', I thought, 'Something must've hit near my voice box.' I did my best to lift my buster to my face and selected the Noise Crusher. I tweaked the settings and it fired a high-pitched scream, which got the attention of everyone mighty quick. Selphie spoke first after the noise died down. "He's awake.." I tried speaking again, but before I said anything, Samus put her hand over my mouth and shook her head. She had taken her helmet off in order to better participate in the shoutfest they held. "You took a lot of damage from shrapnel. You only covered about 15 feet before the place exploded, and a heavy piece of metal hit you in the head, which is why you hit the ground so hard. We've already had a few doctors and mechanics laboring over you. We'll ask about what happened tomorrow.  
I nodded and looked around for this journal and a pen, both of which Cloud handed to me. I tore a page out of the back (it's a big journal) and wrote, "Where's Jeff's body?" and handed it to Samus. "We already had him creamated, and the funeral is in two days. We're all sorrowful for his loss." I took the piece of paper back and scribbled, "If you're sorrowful, what's with the fighting over who's gonna take his place?" and handed it back. "The discussion was brought up casually and degraded to that mess. Tomorrow, we'll find a way to sort everything out."   
There was a pause. Mario walked over to my bed and said "So, SSK, how do you like-a the work?" I grinned and, with the little strength I had at the time, lifted my right hand and gave him a thumbs-up. I felt the darkness take me again and woke up 15 minutes before writing this entry. I feel sleep overpowering me again, so I'll write tomorrow. Until then.  
  
--SSK  
  
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Day 3, 11:00 PM  
North Cove, Legato Kingdom  
  
Everyone gathered in Jackie's Cafe around 10:00 AM to discuss what to do next. I stood in front of the bar, facing the rest of them. Most of the damage I took was on my left side, and I was feeling much better today. I cleared my throat and spoke. "Okay, time for reasessment. Jeff is dead. Our equipment, save what we're carrying, is ruined. And it's my fault for believing that Nash was trustworthy." A few mixed expressions were passed around the group, and I continued. "However, the little victory we managed to score is a hollow one. Nash didn't die in the explosion." This drew a few shocked and confused looks from everyone.  
"How can that be?" Asked a muddled Selphie. "Instant ressurection. He dies, only to come back to life a short time later. He's probably halfway to Halfmoon by now." I sighed and shook my head. How could Nash do that? Maybe I shouldn't have forced him into it. Suddenly, I had a thought. "Samus, Mario, Cloud, stand up here about a foot apart from each other." They began to fulfill my request when Ness spoke up. "Wait a damn minute! This guy got our leader killed and suddenly you're taking orders from him? What kind of conspiracy is this?" Some nodded in agreement with Ness, others did nothing.   
"Actually, that's why I called those three up. One of them will be the new leader, based on how you vote."  
"And why those three? They pawns in your little game?" Asked Ness.  
"They were picked at random. I have the hat and the little slips of paper with your names on them if you want to see them." Ness leaned against the far wall and mumbled to himself. "Any other disagreements?" Nobody said a word. "Good." I reached into one of my many pockets and pulled out several pens and slips of paper. I set them down on the table, and from another pocket I pulled out a thin box. "Write who you choose for the new leader and place it in this box." I pointed to the little cut I made in the top, and set it on the counter.   
Everyone (except for myself and the three chosen people) grabbed a pen and a piece of the paper. Kirby asked, "Can we vote for others besides those three?" I thought for a moment. "Yes, but if there is only one vote for someone besides them, the person that cast that vote must re-vote for someone else." He nodded in a puffball sort of way and returned to thinking.  
It took everyone about 4 minutes to have all the votes cast. Ness eventually voted, but thought carefully beforehand. I opened the box and began reading the votes. "One for Mario. One for Samus. Two for Mario. One for Cloud. Two for Cloud. Two for Samus. Great, a tie." 'Okay', I thought, 'now what the hell do I do?' I thought for a moment. I put the six votes into the box and made sure they were all upside-down. I walked over to Samus, Mario, and Cloud, and said, "take one." They did, and I set the box down. I then asked for the slips of paper they took and read them. "The winner by a random drawing is... Samus, 2 to 1 over Mario."  
Mario and Cloud clapped a few times, as did a few of the others. Ness didn't look too pleased. "That's it? Another random selection? That had to be the dumbest thing ever." Cloud stepped over to Ness, a whole three steps inside the crowded Cafe, and said, "Remember how we originally chose the leader? Random selection. I suggest you quit your whining." Ness mumbled a few dirty words but seemed to calm down.   
I looked over to Samus, who showed me no expression through her visor. "Well, Samus. Any ideas on what we do next?" The answer was obvious. "We start working on a new base. Here's how it'll go." Everyone gathered a bit closer to listen in, although they could've heard just fine from the start. "Kirby, SSK and I will scout out positions for a new base. While we search, the rest of you will go through the ruins of the Montoli building to see if anything can be saved. There may not be much, but if something is over 33% intact, hold on to it. When we find a new base site, we'll begin moving and repairing the stuff found in the ruins. Got it?" The group nodded in unison. "Let's get moving."  
  
15 minutes later, Kirby, Samus and I were standing outside of Fourside, thinking of a good place to set up the base. "Any ideas, SSK? You've been around before, I'm sure." I thought for a minute. "We could always use my house. It's big enough to run as a base, it's located somewhere in the kingdom of Legato, in what I like to call the 'real' world." Samus nodded and looked over to Kirby. "I think SSK's dimension is the only one untouched by the ACODD. It sounds like a sure thing to me." And with that, we headed to my place.  
I had it built near some interesting mountain ranges which I'd explored during the last year. Sometimes I think that treasure hunting was the best thing that ever happened to me. Now, when I remember exploring the mines and caves of those mountains, all I see is Nash holding his smoking shotgun and Jeff lying dead on the floor. The house was more or less new, and had many security devices installed. (Nash lived with me at the time and I didn't trust him with my house.) After a quick survey, Samus and Kirby decided it would be perfect, and if they needed to escape, the mountains to the north would be a great hideout. In another 10 minutes, we began helping in the move to the new base.  
  
"Good God! We're using his HOUSE too?!" Ness wasn't too pleased with any of the ideas flowing today. "Technically, it's not my house, it's our base." Ness was fuming. "Calm down, man! Samus asked me if I knew any secure spots and this was my first idea." Ness glared at me. "You should've thought harder." While talking to Ness and trying to calm him down, I noticed I was being watched. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Samus watching me, due to the angle her visor was tilted at. "Hey, I have a great idea!" Ness said sarcastically. "If we're using SSK's home and ideas, let's just call it the 'SSK Crew'! Well, you all have fun in your little group. I'm going home." With that, he headed for the mountains.  
"Dammit all to hell. Someone wanna go with me and get Ness back?" I noticed everyone was helping move stuff into my house except for Samus. She turned and said, "As leader, it's partially my responsibility to help in these sorts of deals. Cloud!" Cloud looked up from working on a busted computer. "You're in charge until I get back." He nodded and began supervising. "Let's go, SSK."  
  
We wandered through one of the caves, hot on Ness' trail. We knew he didn't use PSI Teleport because we saw no skid marks anywhere, just dropped objects and spare change. There was a fork in the cavern. "Left or right?" Samus, who'd been walking behind me the entire time, said, "Oh, definitely the left." I turned around, amused. She seemed startled and said, "There's some more spare change to the left. That's why I said that." I started heading left, slowly becoming aware of what was going on. I reached a small pit and leaned over a little, staring down. At this time I felt something warm around my lower back. "Samus, quit it with the X-ray scope. You're a good ten years older than me." The warmth faded, and I hopped across the pit. I saw Ness a little further ahead, huddled in a corner. When I approached him, he jumped and screamed, but relaxed when he recognized me.  
"Thank God you two are here! I got lost and couldn't find my way back, it was horrible. SSK, I'm sorry for all the rude comments. I know you're trying to help, but I didn't see that earlier. Let's go back to the base." With that, the three of us headed back for my house. It was near sunset when we reached the base again, and most of the equipment was inside and being repaired for near-future use. My left leg began fritzing out and I headed upstairs to my room for my toolbox. I opened the door and jumped back when I saw a shotgun aimed straight in my face. "You scared the shit outta me, man!"  
He glared with a sense of vengance, and lowered the shotgun. He hit the floor on his knees and began sobbing wildly. "Please please PLEEEEASE let me join you guys again! Oh please oh please!!" I got him off the floor and in my room. While fixing my leg, he told me what happened. "I was just playing with their cool gadgets, I didn't mean to destroy half the building! But the ACODD kicked me out anyway. C'mon, help me out and let me join up. I have no place else to go."   
"Nash, you killed the leader and destroyed the main base. Do you think the others would let you back in?  
"Well, no, but I thought you could--"  
"Not even I could convince them to let you join." Nash, who stopped sobbing, became solemn again. "Fine, I'll just make my own group and destroy you AND the ACODD! Nash will reign supreme!" With that, he vanished, leaving me in my room alone. I finished fixing my leg and headed downstairs. "How fast can we get this stuff working?" Cloud answered that quickly. "Some of the data on the main computer is still retained, and it'll take about a day to get it running. I say, if we have no distractions, 3 days should get what we need in working condition."  
"Don't plan on getting it done in 3 days." I told them what happened and there was a long silence after the brief story. "So what do you say? We beat Nash and the ACODD at the same time?" I finally asked. I saw a few nods around the group. "Let's get working. We're in a real fix." And since then, I've been helping work on the electronic equipment. I'm dead tired, so I'm hitting the sack. Until tomorrow.  
  
--SSK 


	2. II: The New Rebellion

ACOBGK  
  
Part II: The New Revolution  
  
---------------------------  
  
Day 4, 11:35 PM  
North Cove, Legato Kingdom  
  
What a day! Around 5:00 this morning, I heard a loud explosion outside. I peered tiredly out my window and saw a small group of people shooting stuff. I quickly threw a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt on, and re-tied my bandanna. It would've taken too long to put my armor on, so I grabbed my buster and headed downstairs. Everyone was asleep. We had all been dead tired from working on restoring the main computer, and I was the only one that woke up. 'What would've happened if I didn't wake up?' I shrugged and shook the closest person I saw, which happened to be Cloud, slumped over a pile of circuits and drooling in his sleep.  
I kept shaking him, but to no avail. I kicked him with my left foot, to which he replied, "Five more minutes, mom..." And fell back asleep. There was another explosion, and it hit closer than the first. Cloud jumped. "Aaahhh! I didn't do it!" He looked around, tired and confused. "Cloud, snap out of it! Someone's attacking!" Cloud looked up at me and wiped his mouth. "Oh," he said, "Is that all?"   
"Get up!" He stood slowly and looked around for his sword, which had gone missing. "Where's my sword?" He woke up everyone frantically and asked the others. "Where's my sword? Have you seen my sword?" I looked around and saw something by the stairs. A note, carefully placed to make itself known. I picked it up and read it to myself. "Cloud's sword, Ness's bat, and Kirby." A little further down on the note, it read, "Name three thngs or people SSK will never see again unless he meets me outside, alone."  
I showed the note to Cloud, who swore. Ness, wearing his pajamas, read the note and shrugged, falling back to sleep. I headed for the door. "Wait, you're going out there dressed like that?" asked a half-asleep Samus. I shrugged. "Nash won't try anything, he knows I have this." I hit a button on my buster and my body glowed a faint red. "What is it?" Asked Link. "A power shield. Nash's main offense is magic, and this shield either repels or absorbs most magic attacks. I told him that when it's on I can't be injured at all, and he seemed to believe me." I chuckled and stepped out the door. I saw Nash about ten feet away, facing the opposite direction. 'Perfect, time for a stun shot.'  
I charged the stun beam and took careful aim. I fired and knocked Nash's head clear off his body! When I closed in for inspection, I saw nothing but wires. "What in the hell?" I heard two quiet thumps behind me and whirled around. Two Nashes had their shotguns aimed straight for my head. Suddenly, one turned to the other and said, "Uh, now what do we do?" The second one turned to the first and said, "Uh... I dunno. Let's ask the boss." With that, they ran off in opposite directions. Confused, I turned and carefully made my way to a large nearby tree, and stood up against it. I looked around the otherwise empty field for more signs of movement. The sun began to rise over the mountains to the north (which is odd, for in all the other dimensions, the sun rises in the east), spreading its pale yellow light across the plain.   
I saw three alike-looking figures conversing with each other and saw two run off in different directions. 'That must be him...' I charged the stun beam again, but before I knew it, three more Nash-bots had me caught. "The boss wants to see you." I nodded and was led to where the figure was standing, which indeed happened to be Nash. He spoke after sending the bots away. "I have your friend, and the others' equipment. But first, I have demands that I want met."  
"What's with the robot-clones?"  
"I'll be asking the questions here, dammit!" He thought for a moment. "Oh, wait, no I won't. I'm making the demands. Okay. YOU'RE asking the questions here, dammit!" There was silence for a minute as he re-thought what he said. "Nevermind. I just want my share of the stuff in the house and all my money back."  
"What? You have more than ten times my weight in gold and silver, and you want MORE? Besides, you're the one that owes me money. A lot of money."  
"...I'm a greedy bastard, aren't I?"  
"Oh, you don't know the half of it..." I pounced at him and swung with my left hand, which glanced off his nose. He half-jumped backwards and hit the ground flat on his back. I brushed off my buster (which, in case you didn't know, is on my left hand) and watched him return to his feet. He touched his finger to his nose and screamed. "Blood! You're gonna pay for this." A few quick moves and I was standing behind him, his arms locked in mine, back to back. I leaned forward and began walking. "Put me down you sunuvabitch!" He kicked and yelled more obsceneties as I continued walking towards what looked like a tent. He stopped yelling but was still struggling madly to get free when I let him go. He hit the ground with a thud and didn't get back up. 'Must've been knocked out from that short drop. Wow, he is weak.'   
I stepped inside the tent and found what I was looking for; the sword, the bat, and Kirby asleep in a cage. I unlocked the cage and looked around the tent. I saw a few maps and some letters, which I grabbed and shoved into the pocket of my jeans. I strapped the sword over my back, held the bat underneath my left arm, and Kirby in my right. I stepped outside and noticed Nash was gone, and didn't see any other Nash-bots on the horizon. It was an easy 70 feet back to the house. The sun was now in full view, and I knew it was gonna be a nice day. 'It's been too long without a nice day. Maybe I'll relax and help with the reconstruction.'   
  
It was around noon when I actually looked at the papers I swiped from Nash's tent. The maps were of various strongpoints in the different dimensions, like Tourian on Zebes, the underground caverns and passages in Hyrule, and a full map of my house. The letters were from Nash's female friend, and had rather disturbing and lecherous ideas, none of which will be written in my journal. I folded everything and put it in a file cabinet in my room. I headed back downstairs and into the kitchen, which had been raided by the others. 'Great, more to add to my grocery bill.'  
Out in the main room, the others had the main computer almost completely fixed. "It's just a matter of finding all the old data," said Cloud, "if it's not there, this has been for nothing." Seeing as they had everything under control, I stepped outside for some fresh air. I saw Kirby resting in the shade of the large tree near my place, and heard some loud noises from under my house. 'What is that noise?' I wandered around the house until I found a piece of the wooden side torn off. I looked inside and saw Mario and Luigi working on the plumbing. They mentioned something about the people who built my place really messed something up, and I let them be.   
Boredom was really getting to me, and I headed to the northern mountains for a little hiking. I was still wearing my t-shirt and jeans; they're much more comfortable than my armor. I climbed with little effort, since I had done this many times before. I sat on some flat ground near the top of the mountains and rested, leaning against a rock. The scenery from the top was the best view I'd ever seen. Rolling plains swept for miles followed by dense forests, and more mountains on the other side. It was even better at sunset, when the sun sank down the south mountains. I saw many small towns and the castle, where the king of Legato reigned.   
I was up there for a good hour when I had the feeling I was being watched. I looked around and didn't see anyone. I yawned and shut my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw nothing but black. 'Dammit. I fell asleep.' I stood and realized I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. 'Odd,' I thought. It didn't really hit me until I tried to rub my eye and felt cloth. I pulled it off and realized my bandanna had been pushed down over my eyes. I checked my digital time display on my buster. '4:15, maybe I should be heading back.' I turned and headed for the way down when I saw it.  
It stood about 3 times my height and was a sort of light blue color. One hand had a giant blade, and the other a four-barreled cannon. I saw Nash sitting in it. "How do you like it, SSK? I call her the Mobile Magic Masher 2. The gun shoots amplified magic, and--Aw, dammit!" I quickly pressed the button on my buster, enabling my power shield. "Fine, I'll slice you in two! Gwahahaha!" I looked behind me and saw nothing but a few feet between myself and a straight drop. The arm blade began raising. Suddenly, the shoulder brushed against a piece of rock and the entire thing shut down.  
"...What the hell?" I asked confusedly.  
"Son of a bitch! Dammit!"  
"Nash, what did you do now?"  
"It's an external off-switch. Not one of my better ideas."  
"...You really are a dumb bastard." I shot out the left foot of the MMM2 and I heard a noise like a coin dropped into a grating. Nash swore and frantically tried to get out of the cockpit. "Damn! Not the coin-operated self-destruct mechanism! Another bad idea gone worse." I held my laughter back with all my might. Suddenly, I realized what he said. Self-destruct. Big explosion. Stuff dies. I did my best to take cover behind the rock I had rested on earlier. Parts of the MMM2 flew over my head and I heard Nash screaming more obscenities as he flew off the top of the mountain.  
I climbed down about 15 minutes later and saw no sign of Nash, of course. Kirby was flying around the house and Mario and Luigi had fixed the hole in the wooden side. Selphie spotted me and approached me as I reached the door. "Did you have fun?"  
"Of course I did." 'What isn't there to love about rock-climbing and killing your ex-best friend at the top?' I stepped inside and saw no one. No one was upstairs, no one was in the kitchen, nor the dining room. I saw a crack of light in the wall of the main room. 'Oh damn!' I slowly opened the door to my study. It was a hidden door with a hidden entrance, but somehow they found it. It was a room a good thirty feet by thirty feet, with wall-to-wall shelves filled with books, mostly journals of my travels and adventures.  
Samus, Cloud, Link, and Zell were all reading one book, my first and only published nonfiction work. 'Adventuring for n00bs' was the #1 best do-it-yourself book for 24 weeks. Another event of last year. "You know, SSK, I could've used this book when I was exploring Zebes. You have all the important info in here. No wonder it was such a hit."  
"I like to dabble a bit. I have a lot of my own stuff, as you can see." I looked around the glory that is my study and reminisced of all the adventures I've been on, most of them with Nash. And just to make people think, I have a few books of my poetry and short stories. Being a bounty hunter and all-around adventurer does get tedious, and when I find the time, I write some things on spare cocktail napkins that I have lying around and re-record them later.  
"So, SSK, you really are a renaissance man." I shrugged at Cloud's statement. I never really helped the good of mankind, but my ego is known for overpowering my modesty in times like this. "You could say that." I left the study and headed to my room. I hit the bed and almost immediately fell asleep.   
  
It must've been around 9:00 when I woke to a loud creaking noise. I hopped up quickly and glanced around. It was dark, but I could still see clearly. I looked out into the hall and waited to hear the creak again. It sounded somewhat like a wooden floorboard. 'Heh', I thought, 'there's only one creaky floorboard in this house, and that's...' Then it hit me. I headed straight for the study, only to find the door blasted apart and all of the shelves wiped clean of their books. In the back corner, the wooden flooring was torn up and the large chest, which was hidden underneath the boards, was opened and empty.   
The room was very silent, and I stood completely still to listen for anything. I turned and headed for the door, still listening. I was near the entrance when I heard a sigh. "Almost had me!" I turned and fired three shots in the direction of the breath. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" There was a thump and a small figure hit the floor. "Nash, you know I'm not that dumb." I picked him up and held him by the neck. "Now, give me my stuff back." He struggled, but realized he couldn't escape.  
"No way. It's mine now." I lowered my buster's aim. "Let's put it this way, Nash." I began charging. "Give me my stuff back or you'll never have kids."  
"You're a dirtbag." A portal opened from nowhere and all of the books and treasures I'd collected fell through it. I unconsciously loosened my grip, and Nash flew through the portal, which closed behind him.  
I shook my head. "Nash, you never learn." I turned around quickly and aimed my buster. "Come on, Nash, I know you're gonna do it." Another small portal opened and Nash peered outward--and into my buster. "Shit!" He disappeared and the portal closed. "I repeat myself," I said, "you never learn, Nash." With that, I restocked my books, repacked the treasure, and relocated the chest to my room. I'm going to sleep again. Until tomorrow.  
  
--SSK  
  
---------------------------  
  
Day 5, 12:03 AM  
North Cove, Legato Kingdom  
  
The sunlight glistened off the trees and straight into my eyes, waking me up at a bright and early 7:35 AM. I tiredly realized that I only got an hour of sleep, and rolled over. The night had been unexpectedly busy, and I found myself learning most of the information about our enemies, and created a new file for Nash, seeing as I knew him best. I tried falling back asleep, but I just dozed off when the house shook. 'Dammit! Now what?'   
"Whoops!" I stumbled down the stairs and heard blaring music. "Come on, left, left, left! Shit!"  
"Hah! You died again!"  
"I'll get you this time! Go Kirby!"  
"Go Ness!" To my surprise, Kirby and Ness found my GameCube and had been playing Super Smash Bros. Melee on full volume. Kirby played as Ness and vice versa. Ness was playing horribly. I grabbed another controller. "You two don't know how to play. I'll show you."  
"Bring it!"  
"Yeah!" After some exchanging of comments, I proceeded to wipe the floor with them. I taught them the three dodges and, now fully awake, headed upstairs and put my armor on. My sword and buster in place, I headed out the door and southeast to the town of Legato. 'The usual guards are out again,' I thought as I sighed. "Welcome to Legato!"  
"Piss off," I mumbled.  
"Welcome to Legato!"   
"Go die."  
"Welcome to Legato!"  
"Let me in, bastards." They moved out of the way and I stepped through the gates. The first stop I made was at my friend's shop. "Hey, it's SSK! How are things?"  
"Eh, things are good. Nash left last week."   
"That's a shame. He was a good customer." He shrugged. "I got some new stuff you might like looking at."  
"Show me the goods, J.P." He pulled a small square device from under the counter. "This," he said, "is a power amplifier. It strengthens the range and power of energy-type weapons."  
"Nice. Where'd you find it?"  
"The base of those mountains near your place." I knew then what it was from. "Cool, how many do you have?"  
"Four."  
"I'll take them."  
"Sold!" He named a price, which I paid in full. He put the four amplifiers in a small paper bag and I was on my way. The next stop was the Treasure Stop, a place where local and multi-dimensional treasure hunters gather and sell stuff. It was empty today, but the same girl was behind the counter. Sara, a beautiful blonde and not even a year older than me, ran the store. She made a good deal of money to be able to live in Legato, but buying treasure and selling them to the king usually would make you a few million dollars a month.  
"Oh, hey there, SSK. Anything new?"  
"No, just the usual boring junk." I looked around the shop. 'She must've just cleaned out the inventory for the month,' I thought to myself. "What's on your mind? Anything about me?" I just had to laugh.   
"Actually, yes, in a way." I chuckled to myself and leaned over the counter. The only way to get over the counter was to hop over it, which was an easy task. "You know you're not allowed back here. Don't make me call security."   
"Yeah, like she'd do anything about it." The store's 'security' was Sara's twin sister, Sarie. She had a crush on me, which I was well aware of. "Sarie!"  
Sarie burst through the back door of the place, wielding her two-handed sword. "All right, you greedy bastards, back up! I… Oh. Sara, it's only SSK." I chuckled. "See? I told you she wouldn't do anything." Sara growled. "Sis," she said quietly, "Don't you remember the store's policy?"  
"Yeah, no one behind the counter."  
"Which means…"  
"But it's SSK. He's here all the time." While the two sisters debated, I looked under the counter for anything Sara hadn't sold. When she makes her sales trips, she usually saves the smaller treasures. I was still below the counter when I heard the door open. "Hello, ladies." I heard a familiar voice and both sisters looked over. "Has anyone seen SSK?"   
I looked up at them and shook my head frantically. "No," Sara said. "Haven't seen him, Nash."  
"I bet. Well, take care." I heard the door shut. "Phew, that was a close one, Sara." I stood and turned. Suddenly, I was staring down the barrel of a shotgun. I said the first thing that came to my mind. "Shit, I fell for it." Nash laughed. "You never learn, SSK."  
"Eat me, Nash."  
"No, but I'll make you eat your words! I..." I began laughing. "What's so funny?"   
"That was horrible. You could've phrased that so much better than you did."  
"Shut up or I'll shoot your damn head off!" I did my best to stay serious, but I could barely keep my grin off my face. "Now, I want you to get me the parts to my Mobile Magic Masher, or she dies." The shotgun was pointed away from my face and was aimed for Sarie, who gasped.  
"You won't pull the trigger, you like her." He shook his head to hide his slight embarassment.  
"I don't! Watch!" He hesitated, but began pulling back on the trigger. I kept confident as Sarie stood paralyzed in fear. Sara headed to the back suddenly. I watched Nash's trigger finger and became more worried as it pulled farther back. Nash shut his eyes and squeezed the trigger suddenly--but all I heard was a 'click'. I looked over and, to my surprise, a small flag with "BANG!" written on it was hanging from the barrel. Nash stood bewildered and Sarie ducked behind the counter. I lost myself and hit the ground in laughter. "Oh, man! That was... the funniest..."  
Meanwhile, Nash was swearing up a storm over how he grabbed the wrong gun. I finally stood again, keeping myself under control, when a group of police charged through the door and carried an angry Nash out the door. Sara reappeared from the back room. "Local police, like your pizza delivery. Service in under 5 minutes or it's free!" We all had a good chuckle at that. "So, SSK, why are you really here?" Inquired Sarie, who stood again once the police dragged Nash away.  
"Well, tomorrow's my birthday, and I was just wondering what you were getting me."  
"Honestly, are we the only people that know when your birthday is?"  
"Yep." I chuckled and hopped back over the counter. "Don't forget, though." I headed out the door and back to the house. I walked through the door and realized how quiet it was. 'They must all be out somewhere,' I thought. I headed upstairs and checked all the rooms, finding no one. I stepped in mine and hit POWER on my stereo. I lied down and listened to assorted music, singing along when I knew the words. Yeah, I like singing, so sue me. I find it calming to the nerves. Time flew pretty quickly as I continued singing, only pausing when I didn't know the words. I barely heard the knock on my door an hour later.  
I paused and hit the POWER button on the stereo. "Who is it?" The answer was somewhat delayed. "SSK, where were you earlier?" I opened the door and saw Samus standing there. "Well, I went to the town and picked up some things I needed, talked to some people I knew... Why?"  
"So you never got the message?"  
"What message?"  
"We were broken into the other night. Kirby woke up and heard shots being fired. We all headed out and looked for the one who did it. The police in that town were informed. We were sure it was Nash, since he seems to be the only one that knows of our current location. The police claimed to catch him about 2 hours ago, and we left a message here for you to go to the police station for interrogation. You missed all the fun." I simply shrugged.  
"I had seen Nash 5 minutes before his capture by the police, and I was the one who fired the shots last night-- at him." Samus nodded. "That explains a lot. Well, myself and some of the others are heading to one of those bars in the town. You want to come with?"  
"I'm not old enough yet, and even if I was, I wouldn't want to. I despise bars."  
"Your loss. Oh, and you sound pretty good. Tenor?"  
"I could pass for one. I'm a Bass." She nodded again and headed downstairs. I decided to take a nap. The rest of the day was incredibly uneventful. I'm going to sleep after I finish writing this. Until tomorrow.  
  
--SSK  
  
---------------------------  
  
Day 6, 11:20 PM  
North Cove, Legato Kingdom  
  
Today was pretty interesting. I did my morning routine at 7 AM. Wake up, shower, brush teeth, comb hair, eat something for breakfast, and wander to the town for a little while. Not many people were awake, since it was a Saturday. The fog rolled in thick, making it tough to see. I made my way to the Treasure Stop, where I got an unexpected surprise. The place was empty. No one was in sight, and the back room was dark, with the door half-open. I hopped over the counter and looked inside. I should've expected what happened next. I stepped into the room and the lights turned on. I found myself surrounded by many familiar faces. Balloons and streamers were strewn across the ceiling and walls.  
"Happy birthday, SSK!" I realized that word had gotten out to the ACOBGK and some other friends of mine. A table in the center of the room was piled with brightly wrapped boxes. "You didn't have to get me anything. 18 is nothing to fuss over."  
"Are you kidding?" asked Cloud. "You're an adult now! You can do whatever you want!" I shrugged. I looked around and saw everyone seemed to be happy for me. "What the hell. I feel like partying." There was a bright flash from the door and Nash appeared, holding a large box wrapped in blue. Some people reached for their weapons. "Calm down, people." I looked over to Nash. "So what do you have to say for yourself?"  
He stepped over to me and handed me the box. "Harpy Barfday, Susky." That was how he pronounced my name (Suh-ski), and I didn't mind all that much. I slowly opened the box, I kept my senses sharp for any trick he might pull. The box was full of styrofoam packing peanuts. I looked over to him. "Your present's in there." I tossed the packing peanuts out of the box, a handful at a time, and found what awaited me. A small yellow gem, roughly 3 inches long and 2 inches wide, and very regular in its shape, was what awaited me.   
"I thought you'd like it. Remember our first adventure? How I got lost? That's what I found. I told myself that, no matter what, you'd get it on your 18th birthday. You can use it as a firing crystal for your buster, and it'll work better than the one in there."  
"Thanks, Nash. I never knew you would do something like this."  
"I'm full of surprises." I chuckled as I closed the box and set it on the table. 'You're full of it, all right', I thought to myself. "Also, I'm here to apologize. I realize, now that the ACODD has destroyed my army of robo-clones, that my rebellious behavior was wrong. Can you forgive me?" I shrugged. "Don't pull any stupid stunts, and fine." He looked around the room. Everyone seemed to agree with me. "Cool. Let's get this party started."  
The first thing I did was opened presents. Sarie handed me a silver necklace with an odd shaped pendant. "A good luck charm," she said. Sara handed me a bright red ruby about the size of my palm. "It took me a while to clean it and cut it, but I think it's worth it." Samus' present was a Morphing Ball. I could now roll around wherever I wanted. Link and Cloud worked together to tamper my sword, making it sharper and longer. Ness' present was a card holding about $1000 and a note that said, "I didn't know what to get for such a cool guy like you, so here's some pocket change from me to you."  
Selphie and Zell worked over my armor, increasing its dent-resistance and decreasing its weight. Mario found me a nice pair of overalls, while Luigi got me a good tool set for household use. Kirby's present, created with J.P.'s help, was a powerup for my buster. The chip gave me some of Kirby's abilities, most of which were copied from the other members of the ACOBGK. A more powerful charge shot, some fireball powers, a punch glove, and something similar to the Hyper Beam, except much more powerful and colorful, which I reasoned to be one of Ness' attacks, were just some of the cool weapons on the chip.  
"Thank you all so much. I'll keep these gifts for a long time. Now, who made the cake?" Sara appeared from the other room with a large cake and 18 lit candles. The crew sang 'Happy Birthday', and I blew out the candles on the cake. I got them all on my first try. We sat around and talked for a few hours, though Nash and I did most of the talking as we explained how we met and some of our past adventures.  
There were laughs for a while. I stepped outside to get some fresh air and relax myself. It was already later than I thought; the sun had begun its setting and the sky was a bright orange. The fog cleared up and there were few clouds visible. I stared into the sky and thought. Someone tapped on my shoulder and I turned.  
"Oh, hi, Sarie." She stood next to me and was quiet for a moment. She eventually spoke up, her voice very soft and gentle. "Now that you're an adult, I want to ask you something. Do you think... there could ever be something between us?" 'She finally asked me', I thought to myself. 'Better give her an honest answer.' "Actually, I have been doing a lot of thinking about things like that. I really wouldn't know if it would work between us. I'd be away most of the time running missions."  
"I can go with you. I can help. You've seen me fight. Let's give it a try."  
"Are you sure you want to put yourself at this risk?" She nodded. "I'd go anywhere for you, Pete..." I knew she only used my real name when she was serious about something. I smiled at her warmly. "Then let's give it a try." She smiled widely and I hugged her. After that, we headed back inside. The party lasted a few more hours. Around 10:30, the others agreed that the party was more or less over. We cleaned up and got everything back to the house. I sat on my bed and went through a little reassessment. Nash was back on our side, Sarie finally admitted her feelings for me, and I got great new improvements to my stuff. Overall, a good day. I'm going to sleep now, since I'm drained from the party. Until tomorrow.  
  
--SSK 


End file.
